Montessori Apps – Help or Hindrance?

There has been much talk recently about Montessori-inspired applications for devices like Apple’s iPhone and iPad – specifically about the apps recently created by Montessorium. Some Montessorians are enraged, feeling that the apps violate the very foundation of Montessori pedagogy. Others love them, and claim that if Dr. Montessori were alive today she would use an iPad in the classroom with the children.

Dr. Montessori was very clear that the first 6 years of life are a time for children to explore the world around them. Young children develop an understanding of their environment by having concrete, hands-on experiences with real objects and using their senses (feeling, touching, holding, seeing, smelling, etc) to take it all in. Dr. Montessori spoke of how the hand is the tool of the mind, guiding it through learning and exploration.

The simple truth is the manipulation of a virtual object through a computer screen, even via your fingertips, cannot compare to the visceral experience of feeling the real object itself.

Montessorium has released two apps for use by young children: Intro to Letters (based on the Sandpaper Letters classroom material) and Intro to Math (based on the Sandpaper Numbers and the Number Rods). The Intro to Letters app is very similar to the Sandpaper Letters activity; the screen looks like the Sandpaper Letters material, it shows the child how to trace the letter with his fingers and says the sound the letter makes, and has the added features of allowing the child to record his own voice pronouncing the letter sounds and repeating it back to him. However, one of the most important features of the actual material is the way Dr. Montessori designed the letter tablets with sandpaper. As the child traces the material in the classroom, he very clearly feels the difference between the rough shape of the letter, and the smooth surface of the wooden tablet upon which it is fixed. This essential tactile experience provides both a control of error and helps to affix the shape in the child’s mind and muscle memory (which aids in the indirect preparation for writing). Unfortunately, a touch screen does not provide texture, meaning a significant portion of the intended sensorial experience of this material is missing.

Similarly issues exist with the Intro to Math app. Not only does it lack the texture of the sandpaper numbers used in the classroom to introduce children to number symbols, but it also fails to replicate the experience of physically handling the Number Rods. These rods were purposefully designed to be a certain shape and length. As the child carries each rod, from the smallest one rod (10cm long) to the longest ten rod (1 meter long), he notices the difference in weight and length. For many of the children, the ten rod is as tall as they are– imagine how impressive that is to them! By handling the Number Rods the children gain a concrete, physical sense of number quantity and the contrast between smaller numbers (shorter, lighter) and larger ones (heavier, longer). Again, this is impossible to reproduce in an app.

If you do choose to use these apps with your children (and especially if you plan for your child to attend a Montessori school) I strongly suggest you not introduce the apps until after your child has mastered the materials in the classroom. Once a child plays with an app that looks like the Sandpaper Letters, it may not seem novel or exciting to him when he sees it on the shelf at school; his interest in the actual work may wane. In a Montessori classroom, children work from the concrete to the abstract. I fear that exposing young children to virtual Montessori materials may hamper this important developmental process.

I’m curious to hear what other Montessorians think. Are these apps useful? When is it appropriate to introduce children to this sort of technology?

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Comments

I’ve avoided these apps… it’s been hard to, since my children LURVE our iPhones, and I’m so tempted to get more “educational” applications for them. But, I KNOW there’s so much missing when you can’t actually FEEL the letters. And always in the back of my mind is my childrens’ teachers’ request that we don’t keep Montessori materials at home – keep alternative educational materials for home so they are excited & encouraged & properly able to focus on & practice their work at school. So, I’ve held off…but barely! thanks for the encouragement to hold off until mastery. My 3yo has mastered the number rods, but just starting letters. My 6yo obviously has mastered both, but anything she does, 3yo wants to do, so for now… we’ll wait!

On the other hand, the iPad does provide different feedback from the sandpaper letters as the child can quickly see ( visually ) when the tracing deviates off course. Some children do learn visually. I, for one, remember as a child processing visually. My daughter at 2 had the Tangoes Jr game ( the tangible tangram pieces ) but quickly completed all 25 puzzles. Now at 2.5 she was thrilled to have the iPad and quickly ran through all 140 puzzles at the child level and has now moved to the adult level ( 10 piece puzzles ). Technology is inevitable and if they master both and can see the parallel between the two, I think that is actually ideal… some children really do quickly grasp the abstraction.

We noticed that our daughter was tracing letters written on paper with her finger. Nobody ever instructed her to do so… it was instinctive. We did, then, purchase the Montessorium app. In terms of not having the tactile feedback of the sandpaper letters… would you discourage a child from tracing a letter written on paper? The experience of tracing on the iPad really isn’t any different then her tracing it on paper.

Technology has its place and progress is somewhat inevitable and, although tempting to interpret literally and be a purist, I have to think that the intention is more important. Yes, Montessori designed the letters out of sandpaper to give feedback.. at that time in history sandpaper was about the only way at that point to give the user that feedback. I don’t think anyone back then could have ever imagined a user interface that could give visual and audio feedback.

I think that the applications are silly. Time spent on “Montessori” applications is no better or worse than time spent on any other computer games. If you see value in the use of computers for young children then fire it up.

But there is nothing to gain by blurring the two subjects: There’s Montessori and there are computer games. No legitimate relation. Slapping the name Montessori on something does not make it so. Keep the dialogue legit. This is a discussion about computers not Montessori.

Montessori education is about so much more then learning to read and do math. Independence, self control, development of self, understanding of freedom and consequences are what I have witnessed in my tenure. Reading and Arithmetic seem almost accidental in the primary environment.

No, it’s not Montessori… it is just a computer app. However, to say you should discourage a child from tracing a letter on an iPad screen because of the lack of tactile feedback is equivalent to saying you should discourage them from tracing it on a piece of paper. Would you actually recommend against that?

Rachel- Personally, I do think there’s a difference between tracing a letter on paper vs doing so on a computer. It’s again a question of real vs virtual. There are many things that my 2yr old does in play that I wouldn’t want him doing on a computer screen, even though it’s technically the same activity.

I also draw a distinction between discouraging the child from doing something they spontaneously decided to do on their own (tracing letters on paper) vs *not* introducing an activity that the child didn’t initiate to begin with (buying & downloading an app, then showing them how to use it). No, I would not discourage my kid from tracing letters if he came up with that activity on his own. I also am not going to buy my own set of Sandpaper Letters and show them to him, as he’ll get to do that when he starts school in a few more months.

These apps may not technically *be* Montessori, but they are pretending to be. They are specifically designed to look just like the Montessori materials, and are being marketed as an alternative or complement to the real materials with all the same benefits. If the two were separate, and the child could see them as separate, that might be different (though, again, I personally still think kids this young shouldn’t be spending much time working on computers anyway…). But they’re not, and as Kelly mentioned above, having and using something at home that so highly resembles the work in the classroom makes it more likely that the child will not be interested in the real work.

I definitely agree with the dangers of technology but I don’t think generically branding it as all bad is correct… there are definitely shades of gray. My daughter doesn’t watch any TV ( and has never had an interest when at the homes of others ) and she doesn’t use the computer — both are very one-sided interactions. However, watching her use the iPad in certain cases ( like the Tangrams game after mastering the physical pieces ) really has a much different effect than the NYT article warns… she shows intense focus and will concentrate intently to solve a puzzle. Even at 2.5 she does make the leap in abstraction because the first time she saw the iPad app, she knew intuitively how to “flip” versus “rotate” — a concept she got through using the physical pieces. I think watching her interaction using specific iPad apps is, in fact, very different than a computer or a TV experience.

I also think each child is different and grasps the abstraction at different rates. I love the idea of number rods and it is probably the best way to learn, but even as a child of 4 being taught the multiplication tables by my older sister, I remember visualizing arithmetic in my head and could relate multiplication of numbers to a concrete concept of quantity. ( Even later in life, I always visualized algebra and even calculus representations without any tangible materials. ) So, although it would be helpful for most, some children are able to make that leap easily without it.

I don’t think these apps should be used as teaching materials but as reality is such, in a pinch when we have exhausted colorforms, stickers, crafts, or drawing on a long-haul flight or drive, these apps have their place and are a suitable activity. By the way, the Montessorium implementation of the letters really isn’t very good at all — it has many glitches that are distractions (she does love the tangram app, though).

Excellent discussion! Rachel, in response to your question, I don’t have much to add to what Marcy said. I understand that the applications aren’t Montessori, I was just responding to what I see as the bastardization of Montessori’s teachings.

Just leave it to some company to come up with a computer application to mimic her approach to guiding children in their learning. A young child is capable of choosing materials she is ready and able to use, and can use those materials independently, but this is not true when a computer is involved. Besides, every study we have about how young brains mature, and everything we know about how children learn best, indicates that young children need active, hands on exploration of their environments, and the materials in their environments.

Computers can be wonderful tools for learning, but there is a time and a place for them, and I don’t believe there is any benefit to introducing computers to young children before the age of eight or nine. NAEYC is currently reviewing their policies and guidelines on the use of computers in early childhood classrooms.

In addition to the article in the New York Times that Marcy mentioned, you might be interested in looking at this one:http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/479. It’s a Harvard Education Newsletter that cites a Gesell study pointing to the fact that the way children learn hasn’t changed, but the way we teach them has. It seems the more things change, the more other things stay the same.

Maria Montessori and my mentor, Magda Gerber, were champions of respect and trust for young children, and their capabilities. Magda often asked, “What is the rush? Who knows better how to be a baby than a baby? Why do we expect them to do what they cannot yet do, instead of noticing and appreciating what it is they are doing?” I worry about young children being exposed to, and encouraged to use computers to learn when they are not yet ready for this kind of abstract learning.

Letters on an iPad are real. The iPad itself is a real tool and using it is both a tactile and visual experience. The fine motor control that goes into using a keyboard, especially on an iPad is great. Very few people use pens and pencils to write anymore. Ipad’s are now proven to help all kinds of children– notably those with autism.

Do you all find it at all ironic that you are “blogging” this discussion-Maria would have had to get out a pen and paper write a letter to her peers send it in the mail wait weeks maybe months for it to be received read and responded too. There have been ten responses to this post in less than 4 days!! It is 2010 soon to be 2011, I am grateful for the materials and philosophies that Dr. Montessori created and amazed each day as I use them to teach small children a century after they were created. Are we really arguing about if you can feel the texture of the sandpaper on the iphone and if not how could it be educational? The point is for children to begin making the connection between letter symbols their sounds and eventually writing. We write with pens and paper (and like it or not computers and phones) not our with our fingers in sand. Of course we would not replace the set of sandpaper letters in the classroom with an iPad, but raise a fuss about a product that offers an avenue for parents to encourage their child to learn period seems counter productive. I thought as educators we were supposed to be complaining about parents who don’t promote learning outside of the classroom.

“I don’t believe there is any benefit to introducing computers to young children before the age of eight or nine.” To view computers as a single type of experience is myopic. I have watched my daughter from a year old iChat with her Grandfather and Uncle a few times a week. They only get to visit 3 times a year because they live very far away, but when they do visit it is as if no time has passed ( she isn’t even that comfortable with local relatives that she sees every few weeks . Each week when she talks to them she shows them what she is interested in and learning and develops that relationship with them. I am very thankful for this and although she knows they aren’t there in person and can’t hug them, she loves the connection it gives her. You can’t ignore technology and brand it all as evil.

As well, she knows that when we want to learn more about something ( how to grow a plum tree, finding out what kind of bug we just caught, etc. ) that we can go look it up on the internet together. Perhaps we could scour a library ( which we have visited ), but that would neglect the way real information is actually obtained these days ( info in libraries is quickly obsoleted by new info ). I don’t even think Montessori would’ve denounced technology… I think she would’ve found ways to weave it into her methods of teaching when appropriate for each child. I had an Alfie robot as a kid in the 70s…. was that bad? I was reading newspapers phonetically by 3.5 and was always a very eager and proficient reader and writer so I suppose it didn’t really harm me.

Besides, aren’t you supposed to observe the child’s interaction ? Observing my child iChatting with her grandfather or using an application that is well designed and interactive is clear that it produces focus, learning, and contentment… not exactly what those articles were indicating.

I don’t see anyone here claiming that technology is inherently evil. Clearly all of us here use technology and see the good in it. That’s not the discussion at hand. I do believe that Maria Montessori *would* incorporate technology into learning at some point, if she were alive today. My point is that every bit of her philosophy and teachings that I have ever read leads me to believe that the primary classroom (ages 3-6) isn’t the time to use simulations when there are hands-on alternative that is more concrete.

I would agree with you Marcy. I believe that society is becoming to technological and children really need hands on experiences to benefit their response to the experience and also their brain development. It does make a difference when children are exposed to all this technology that now exists. My son is 4 and a half and was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder which has everything to do with the way his brain processes information. He has a series of exercises to do everyday to re program his brain and one of the things that I learned from the Occupational Therapist was to stay away from TV and technology. To use it very little.

As a certified Montessorian, I am a bit on the fence with this whole thing. On one hand it is so so important for children to have hands on, tactile experiences and on the other if there were an app I could use with my 20 mo old in a pinch, say at a doctor’s office waiting room when we have exhausted all possible vocab and naming extentions….It would be great to open up something “educational”….
I am not crazy about the sandpaper letter app….the true use IS just that-SANDPAPER for tactile learning, however i would use the app if it were in another color/style as to not replicate the actual sandpaper letters. Any opportunity for language, fluency, letter naming should not be shunned….
I am off to write some apps myself….have some ideas i think would make Montessori proud. She was, afterall, an observer of life and a forerunner of educational advocacy and innovation. Technology shouldn’t replace natural and spontaneous learning…..it can, however, when used properly be a valuable extention.

Let’s face it. This generation of children are “Technology Natives”. Computer Information is no longer just a vocation, it is in fact a way of life. So don’t you think if Maria were alive today, do you or do you not think she would be observing closely to see when a child’s sensitive period for Technology exhibits itself? I have a 20 month old, who since a creepily early age has been enthralled with the IPhone, calculators, remotes, laptops etc. As much as this worried me at first, i noticed she seemed just as interested in the more “natural” pouring, spooning, naming, sensorial work i put out in our living room on her shelves…..that told me, that i should follow her and come up with learning opportunites using these tools.

I can tell you that my child who just turned 3 uses the app and it works. Regardless of physical tactile experience, he is learning all of the sounds through the app. He likes using it, gravitates to the app on his own (he chooses to play with it). While real sand paper might be nice, I can’t argue with the results. As with any device with a screen, the key is moderation.

I think these apps are useful and appropriate for children. They are quite carefully constructed and I am happy that Montessori teachers were involved in their creation. The “works” are self correcting. There is a physical experience of moving the hand in a way to produce a particular result. Different senses are used, but serve a similar purpose to some materials designed by Montessori. For example, sound is used on the sandpaper numbers rather than texture.

Neuroscience (and Montessori) tells us that learning is aided when we vary the context in which we learn skills and concepts. In music, for instance, we might practice a tricky passage by playing it using different rhythms, playing in different locations or positions, even playing it in reverse. Perhaps these apps are useful in reinforcing concepts learned in school. I also think we can give young minds credit – they may very well be learning things that are beyond us. I do think it is interesting to consider how Montessori would have integrated technology in the classroom. After all, Montessori was an innovator.

Finally, my son is sick. He is often isolated in the hospital or trying to avoid certain discussions and procedures and the truth is, the iPad helps him through it all. The Montessorium apps are a nice change from many other kids apps which are so loud and fast so I am grateful for them.

I think a very important element of this argument has been overlooked and that is the knowledge and expertise that a Montessori trained teacher has that tells him/her when is the oppportune moment to introduce activities and how best to do it. This decision to introduce a child to a material is based on an indepth knowledge of child development, an indepth knowledge of the material and its direct and indirect purposes and observed knowledge of an individual child. There is often certain observed discoveries and acheivements that we wait for before giving the child a material to insure a positive and meaningful connection. I think back with on my years as an assistant and all of the materials that I naievely thrust into the hands of children that the may have had a lesson on but were neither timely nor appropriate, some of which were not even designed for independent use. Now as a trained teacher I can see the folly of my well intentioned but ignorant “guidance.” With these apps in the hands of families I fear that many children will have these activities inappropriatly introduced to them, perhaps killing their budding interest in a subject or causing undue frustration. I hear of people giving the intro to math app to their 2 year olds, well, there are very good reasons that we wait to offer the number rods to children until they are older. I’m not saying that parents should be afraid to teach their children things or to fear being involved in their child’s education but the Montessori materials have very specific purposes that interact and build on each other in sometimes delicate ways, if a parent truely wants their child to get the most out of Montessori materials they should trust that their child’s teacher knows the best way to connect the material with the child.

Humans have been on the planet for a long time, but today children are suffering the brunt of our experiments with technology such as TV, computers, cell phones, ipads, etc.

Today we have more physical ailments, such as cancer and obesity, at earlier ages than ever before because of our ignorance of the effects of technology that certainly has its place (maybe) for children over the age of 12 or so. But even then, from age 12-15, Dr. Montessori recommended that children spend time on a working form and I don’t think computers fit into the healthy scenario we see that works for these children.

The longer we can keep children away from computers and any device that exposes them to untested radiation the longer. They need whole body movement, sun, rain, fresh air, society of others.

I’m not saying “don’t use ipads or other technology” – but I want to share some thoughts that don’t seem to addressed clearly here:

-Children need to just BE. They learn about themselves this way; strengthen themselves and therefore can better connect with the rest of Life (humans and all the life that the earth holds).

-They need to learn how to handle potential “boredom” situations. Car-trips, waiting rooms, etc. They can strike up a conversation with the person standing behind them in line, meet a new friend, spot a bird that has flow into the store, just watch the clouds sail by. Would anyone disagree that none of these things are harmful?

-Ipads or anything else is still “screen-time” – a little bit can be helpful at times – especially languages and logic games (by age 12, I learned all of my Spanish from Sesame Street – I’ve since learned more, but Sesame Street sure kept my brain primed for additonal languages – I learned French and Latin with a breeze later on). Does that mean there were not *better* ways??? (just saying)

-Children LOVE anything in a box that moves (aka screens) — they also LOVE that large bowl of candy set out at the party buffet table, but you’re sure going to make sure they get enough healthy food to offset the *small* amount of candy you let them have.

-Just because older kids get to do it, doesn’t mean it’s good for the little ones, supervised or not.

-Technology changes – by the time our current 3 year olds are 15, the technology will be totally different and they will be able to learn that new stuff then just as easily as learning stuff now.

-If the *children* create it as an extension of their Montessori work, it always has value. Us adults providing extensions of their Montessori work; well, we have to be careful – it may or may not have value.

I am a Montessori teacher and was told about the applications from the parent of one of my students. I decided to try the application of the pink tower with a small group of 3 and 4 year olds. They first put the 3d pink tower on a mat, chose a design from the app and worked with both real and virtual simultaneously. They loved being able to work with the iPad and were as enthusiastic trying to find the corresponding cube on the mat. Technology is not a substitute for real life but one of the many tools we have at ur disposal in educating our children .

I am using Montessori methods with an Adult Education Class. My students all struggled in traditional education systems and have expressed comments that they think they would have been more successful in a Montessori Environment as children. They feel that traditional school systems failed them. Even those that managed to make it through feel they have big gaps in their knowledge.

We have been fortunate to have the grant funds to purchase a classroom full of material and several iPads. I think they are great. We use the physical material in class and they can also practice with the ipads. Most of my students have enjoyed having the physical material in front of them to practice – especially with math.
We use other apps in addition to those that claim to be “Montessori” based apps. Some of them are great. Fraction Factory has been one of my favorites for adults. I also like Stack the States which is great to help older kids or adults with US geography. It is fun and easy. We also use some websites that have Flash applications which don’t work on the ipad, but thewe found a browser app called Puffin that allows some Flash applications to work on the ipad.

My son is turning 3 next week, and has been in a Montessori classroom for 1 1/2 months. He has been reading since he was 2, but not too interested in picking up crayons or chalk. He loves Ipad apps like Stack the States and one called Monkey Preschool Funshine or something like that. We have one called Letter School that is for tracing letters. He enjoys tracing the letters and mastering each one. He has gotten a lot of additional practice that he doesn’t have time for in school. Since he started using this app (and going to school), he has been much more interested in crayons, chalk, and markers. I think Montessori school and the Apps that he is using are both helpful in their own ways. I think the apps are great, and I am always looking for more that will interest him. We also have some that are for coloring and some foreign language apps (by Mind Snacks).

Just because something is not necessarily “evil” does not mean we let it become a permanent part of our child’s lives.

POINT 2:

Re-reading this article… I had another thought. The tactile experience of sandpaper letters does not just lead to reading and writing and handwriting… It is part of a much bigger experience – sensitizing of young fingers, awareness of textures and SO much more – and utilizing that larger experience to learn to read. Montessori is NOT about learning to read so young – it is about feeding those TRUE NEEDS of the deeper soul of the child. Then the child takes those keys to the world he has been given and unlocks fantastic doors of discovery!

POINT 3:

Children “waiting” in the doctor’s office have to learn patience and social skills. Not skills to keep themselves busy. Because screen-time becomes addicting – and introducing it younger and younger causes deeper addictions at older ages. Using technology to connect with loved ones: GREAT! WONDERFUL! But then keep it at that – because that it is still a touchy situation when it comes to acclimation to screen-time. I know, because I’ve experienced serious issues with my 8 year old son already, despite a “balanced” approach to screen-time, it is a serious addiction issue if not properly controlled.

This is on the Montessorium website as a “benefit” to the app:
“HELPFUL HINTS: Helpful hints guide your child as they work their way through the activities. This supports their independence and their self-esteem.”

And what happened to human connection/interaction when a child needs a hint – or the development of the true skill of problem-solving. The child doesn’t need “hints” that are not 100% adapted to him, and no computer can replace that human element.

Yes, we want some independence and self-esteem – but true INNER self-esteem, and a true independence that leads to a fruitful interdependence.

The fact is, by the time a child is at a developmentally appropriate stage to benefit from any of these apps, the material being taught is already so far below them. It is NOT an appropriate match for the child at either end!

Historically, we’ve had the same problem with books and reading – that children ages 5-9 are capable of reading at a middle school reading level, yet the books available to them were either on appropriate topics but far too simplistic in reading level; or were at their reading level but far too mature on topics…

Now we’re looking at inappropriate and lack of balance approach to technology and children.

I agree that the “real” thing is much better, but do note there are some children, my son being one of them, who doesn’t care for the Montessori materials at all. Yet, the same work on the iPad and he did the work over and over and over. My daughter was so frustrated with the stamp game (physical version) because she couldn’t get the tiles out as fast as her mind was working; the stamp game app lets her slide the tiles faster. The addition strip board is NEVER used in my house, but the addition strip board app always is. Why is that?

It’s funny that no one here has mentioned the most obvious use of these apps: for parents who aren’t lucky enough to be able to send their children to a Montessori school, or who lack the real Montessori materials at home.

Granted, it’s fairly easy to make some of the materials, but others are quite expensive, or time-consuming to make. I often find (due to the brilliance of Montessori materials) that I can spend hours on making a material, and my children eat it up and finish the whole thing in a day or two.

And while certainly I don’t expect poverty-stricken kids in Bangladesh or Indonesia to be using this app, I still think there are many kids out there who would otherwise not have any chance to experience the joy – even in limited form – of Montessori.

And who knows, maybe through experimenting with one of these apps a parent will decide to investigate the Montessori method more thoroughly.

Also, I can think of numerous other ideas for apps ( in particular the grammar boxes, and other reading material)that would be just fine for kids, though as one person commented, the most appropriate age to introduce these would be the 9-12 group.

Hi everyone, I was pretty happy to stumble across this discussion and article. I currently teach in a 3-6 classroom in Australia. I have been in Montessori as an educator for 10 + years. I have over the last say 3 years been thinking about how if and why to integrate technology in to my classroom. Thus far this is what I do:
– I use computers for their intend purpose- to collect, analyse synthesise and share information- ie if a student wants to do some research we sometimes do a google search- AFTER seeing if we can find anything in our class encyclopedia. I often search children’s encyclopedia sights. We look for photos of things we are investigating. The internet or computer is presented, in a lesson, as another research too. That’s what it is, a tool with purpose that needs to be respected like all other materials in the room. Currently it isn’t available for free choice, I’m still working out my comfortability with it.

-children check their sums with a digital calculator- again used for its intended purpose

– children record their achievements with our digital camera- again it is by invitation of a presentation like everything else in the room, then available for free choice

– digital cameras are used for recording data, such as the thermometer reading- to be graphed on a computer later once inputed by a couple of students in the afternoon, then I am going to locate the right software to turn it in to a graph for us

-emails are sent home, the child drafts their email first and then types it- so literate children only- email used for its purpose

I would like to have an ipad for letter tracing, but I strongly feel it should not replace sand paper letters, but be a follow up lesson, for letter writing practice or for those who have trouble saying the sounds- but not as a replacement for teacher lead practice, in addition to. The human element can not be replaced and it should not be a babysitter

In older classrooms the technology use opens up for purposeful use- but computers are mostly for literate people, so we ought to use them that way.

My other beef with the “Montessori” apps- they are not montessori- is that they provide screen rewards. All they’ve done is stolen the colour of the letters. Adding rewards is against the underlying philosophy of Montessori educators.

We can’t deny that technology needs to be included, it is just about using it purposefully and mindfully, for its intended purpose.

Other ideas for 3-6 use of technology greatly appreciated, I am trying to build up some things so that I am including this important element of our world in my program.

> This essential tactile experience provides both a control of error and helps to affix the shape in the child’s mind and muscle memory (which aids in the indirect preparation for writing).

Dr. Maria Montessori made very intelligent use of the materials available to her to design such a feedback system. This comment, though, feels shallow to her original goal of providing an automatic error control for the child and raises a few questions –

a) If feedback is provided by other means, would it be enough? If some new form of feedback not possible with the original Montessori apparatus is provided, would that make the newer medium superior?

b) There are folks working on introducing texture on touch devices (“haptic” interfaces). If the next iteration of the iPad did indeed introduce texture on the surface, would it then be adequate to teach using the “real” Montessori way? … or would other objections then turn up? In other words, I’m wondering whether this is a “no true scotsman” kind of categorical error.

In summary, my questions ask – Dr. Montessori’s apparatii are design, design has criteria to meet, if these criteria are laid down, we would have to admit that there may very well be alternative designs that satisfy them.

Rachel, YES! This is our experience!! We cannot afford to send our kids to a Montessori school. Cannot. As a AMS Montessori teacher and a state certified teacher who taught in the public schools, too, I felt I wanted to do everything I could to provide a Montessori experience for my children. We’re buying all the materials we reasonably can… and using apps for the ones we can’t. I notice in particular a good deal of the math materials have apps. We are not subbing out “real” materials for “fake” ones via app – we are quite simply having the opportunity to introduce some of these more expensive math materials we OTHERWISE COULD NOT INTRODUCE AT ALL!! I’m so excited!

I just did a blog post about this, titled Montessori & iPads, making the point that, as Montessori noted many times in her writings, children from 3-6 do more than absorb impressions from real objects. They also gradually develop the capacity for abstract thought. iPads, for this purpose, are not only simply another way of delivering image-based experience, they are more versatile and fun than static images. If usage and content are appropriately controlled, I believe iPads can perfectly complement the existing materials in a Montessori primary environment.

Most of the comments I see here are about the use of Montessori apps in early childhood programs. As an Upper El teacher, I can’t exactly speak to that (though the EC teachers at my school all have and use iPads in the classroom and appreciate doing so). I use the apps with my students and I think they’re perfect for my age group, since moving from concrete to abstract is an important transition for them to be making at this time. There aren’t many language-oriented apps for lower or upper elementary (I’d actually like to see more) but there are plenty of math ones. The hundred board app and its many extensions are great for skip counting and number sequencing and I often reinforce math facts with the numerous apps designed for that purpose. Rantek, the company that makes these materials, also makes some helpful geography/map work and math charts.

I don’t recommend using iPad apps as teaching materials and, as a general rule, I try to limit the use of technology in the classroom (we also have computers), but I do think that apps have a place in the Montessori classroom. I’d even argue that, as teachers, it behooves us to take advantage of all the materials at our fingertips.

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Dr. Montessori didn’t oppose Technology, she only did if it made the child a passive learner. If it’s interactive, she said it was good.

Dr. Montessori said that the child will learn anything that the guide could interest him. If the App, or any technology can interest the child that much, why should we exclude it from his learning environment?

When learning, all kids love to compare, relate, link objects from different contexts. When my son was less than 1 year old, during learning his first words, he already linked the dog in his book with our real dog. Matching work attracts any child, making the work much more interesting than learning just the objects by themselves. I love the story of the child learning both with his app and his real material.

Update on my son, in my real life.
– He knew all alphabet sound before 2 years old.
– Now at 2.5 he’s counting beyond 30, not just by looking at number signs, but the quantity too.
– He’s identifying (speaking out) the first sound of each word we speak to him (90% correct), and reading a tiny bit of phonics.
– He can work on 50 pieces puzzle for the USA map, all by himself.

He uses pens, brushes to write and draw, but loves the tracing letters app more than others. I don’t let him sit for too long, usually 30-40 minutes at the most. But he learns tracing, and a lot of new words, music instruments, even putting map puzzles for 50 states on the small iPad screen (80% correct, given some state are 1/20 of his finger size.)

The Brain development chart shows the language prime time for kids diminishes considerably after 4 years old. Also in real life, we can see that 4 years old is when the kids start their basic reasoning skills, asking a lot of Why question. If we base our thinking on Montessori principle, that each stage of development of the child tells us about a sensitive period, I myself think that 4 years old is the time that a kid needs to be able to read on his own, and explore the Why questions himself.

Dr. Montessori spent most of her time for 3-6 years old and up, not below 3 years old. I believe that why she didn’t do a lot of researches, or made a lot of discoveries for this young age. What I have been doing is to learn and research the way Dr. Montessori learnt and researched the child, to understand deeper their development signals and nurture them the best.